The first direct election of the Moscow mayor in a decade has been scheduled for September 8th, the chairman of the Moscow City Duma, Vladimir Platonov, is quoted as saying today by Ekho Moskvy.
Acting Mayor of Moscow Sergey Sobyanin, who heads the Moscow office of the ruling United Russia party, will run for mayor as an independent candidate.
Leader of the opposition liberal Yabloko party Sergey Mitrokhin and another opposition leader Alexey Navalny have also expressed their willingness to take part in the election.
Billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov, leader of the Civil Platform party and former presidential hopeful, also says that his party will take part in the campaign, but is uncertain about his personal participation. According to the new law, a candidate for a public post is not allowed to have property abroad and all Prokhorov's fortune is kept outside Russia.
